Social issues in middle grade fiction
Social issues for middle graders take a lot of forms. Kids in 3rd through 8th grade are starting to consider that they are no longer the epicenter of the universe. They look more to their friends for recognition (much to their parents' and teachers' annoyance!) and start to develop an understand of some of the bigger issues around them. These two books are wonderful opportunities to help kids understand difference points of view through a variety of social issues.
The first one is called "The Space Between Lost and Found" by Sandy Stark-Mcginnis. It's about Cassie, who is in middle school and lives with her mom and dad. Her mom has had to stop working and they employ a housekeeper who comes every day to help with her mom. Her mom has dementia and is forgetting a lot of things. Including, sometimes Cassie's name. Sometimes she seems perfectly normal and Cassie really wants to believe she's going to get better. But her mom's behavior is so unpredictable that Cassie doesn't even want to let her best friend Bailey know how bad it is. Cassie comes up with a plan to help her mom, but it involves swimming with dolphins and the closest place to do that is a few hours' drive away from their home. Cassie's dad thinks this is a bad idea so Cassie makes a plan to do it on her own. This is a big story about dealing with loss, both a little at a time like Cassie is dealing with but also when death comes suddenly, like it did with Bailey's mom. The idea that things change is a big one. When things change and it isn't immediately obvious that it's an upgrade, sometimes it's hard to not look for a path backward rather than forward. I think the middle grade kids are going to like this one a lot. Cassie is a strong believable character and the story line of dealing with early onset dementia is a topical one. This one came out at the end of April, so you should be able to find this one right away!
The first one is called "The Space Between Lost and Found" by Sandy Stark-Mcginnis. It's about Cassie, who is in middle school and lives with her mom and dad. Her mom has had to stop working and they employ a housekeeper who comes every day to help with her mom. Her mom has dementia and is forgetting a lot of things. Including, sometimes Cassie's name. Sometimes she seems perfectly normal and Cassie really wants to believe she's going to get better. But her mom's behavior is so unpredictable that Cassie doesn't even want to let her best friend Bailey know how bad it is. Cassie comes up with a plan to help her mom, but it involves swimming with dolphins and the closest place to do that is a few hours' drive away from their home. Cassie's dad thinks this is a bad idea so Cassie makes a plan to do it on her own. This is a big story about dealing with loss, both a little at a time like Cassie is dealing with but also when death comes suddenly, like it did with Bailey's mom. The idea that things change is a big one. When things change and it isn't immediately obvious that it's an upgrade, sometimes it's hard to not look for a path backward rather than forward. I think the middle grade kids are going to like this one a lot. Cassie is a strong believable character and the story line of dealing with early onset dementia is a topical one. This one came out at the end of April, so you should be able to find this one right away!
The second also deals with big topics. This one revolves around idea of racism and immigration. It's called "As American as Paneer Pie" by Supriya Kelkar. It's about Lehka who is in middle school in a small town about an hour's drive from Detroit. Lehka lives with her mom and dad who emigrated to the US before Lehka was born. Like many teenagers, Lehka is often embarrassed by her parents, the way they speak and dress. Lehka's parents are also very strict about a variety of things so Lehka feels like she has two ways of being- School Lehka and Home Lehka. The kids at school often tease Lehka, she has a birthmark in the middle of her forehead that looks similar to the dot some Indians wear, called a bindi. Lehka arranged her hair so that it doesn't show but the kids still comment on it often. They also comment that she smells funny, that Indian food smells weird (so she brings a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for school lunch) and the teachers mispronounce her name so overall, Lehka doesn't really feel like she belongs at school. Then a new girl moves in and she is also Indian. Lehka is alternately embarrassed by her (Avantika is even more connected to Indian culture since her family is just moving to the US) and amazed that Avantika is willing to stand up to the bullies. At the same time, a new congressperson is elected to Congress on a strongly anti-immigration platform. There are several instances of racial violence documented in the book that propel Lehka to write an opinion piece that gains her a lot of attention. This is a wonderful book. Lehka is an amazing character who is dealing with the normal drama of not fitting in as a teenager, but magnified because of her cross cultural connections. Kelkar nails the voice of Lehka and kids are going to love hearing her story. It will be a wonderful book to read as a read aloud, to take the opportunity to help the kids connect Lehka and their own stories of not fitting in and racial profiling and how we could stop it. This one doesn't come out until June, but I'm putting on my order list NOW because I don't want to forget how awesome it is!
Here's a video of Supriya reading some of the book and talking about puns (which are a super fun part of the story).
And her's Supriya with an idea to make a collage!
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